三、阅读理解(共20小题，每小题2分，满分40分)

阅读下列短文，从每题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项。

A

Monarch butterflies(黑脉金斑蝶) are a common summer sight in the northern United States and Canada. These large orange and black insects(昆虫) brighten parks and gardens as they fly lightly among the flowers. What makes monarchs particularly interesting is that they migrate(迁飞) --all the way to California or Mexico and back. They are thought to be the only insect that does this.

Every year in the late summer monarchs begin their journey to the south. Those heading for Mexico go first for the Louisiana-Mississippi area, then fly across the Gulf of Mexico into Texas. Once in Mexico, they settle themselves in one of about fifteen places in a mountain forest filled with fir trees. Each place provides a winter home for millions of monarchs. The butterflies are so many that they often cover entire trees. When spring comes, they begin their long journey north.

The question is often asked whether every butterfly makes the round-trip journey every year. And the answer is no. The average monarch lives about nine months. So one flying north might lay eggs in Louisiana and then die. The eggs of that generation may be found in Kentucky; the eggs of the next generation may end up in Wisconsin or Michigan. The last generation of the season, about the fourth, will make their way back to Mexico and restart the journey.

Scientists learn about monarchs’ migration by catching and making marks on the insects. By recatching a monarch with such a mark and noticing where it came from, the next scientist can get to know things like the butterfly’s age and its routing(路线).

56. One of the places where monarchs spend the winter is ______.

A. the Gulf of Mexico B. an area in Mississippi

C. a forest in Mexico D. a plain in Texas

57. The routing of monarchs’ migration can be learned ______.

A. by examining the marks made on them

B. by collecting their eggs in the mountains

C. by comparing their different ages

D. by counting the dead ones in the forests

58. What is the subject discussed in the passage?

A. Migration of monarchs. B. Scientists’ interest in monarchs.

C. Winter home of monarchs. D. Life and death of monarchs.

 

B

SYDNEY: As they sat sharing sweets beside a swimming pool in 1999, Shane Gould and Jessicah Schipper were simply getting along well, chatting about sport, life and “anything else that came up.”

Yet in Sydney next month, they will meet again by the pool, and for a short time the friends will race against each other in the 50-meter butterfly(蝶泳) in the Australian championships at Homebush Bay.

Gould, now a 47-year-old mother of four, has announced she will be making a return to elite competition(顶级赛事) to swim the one event, having set a qualifying(合格的) time of 30.32 seconds in winning gold at last year’s United States Masters championships. Her comeback comes 32 years after she won three golds at the Munich Olympics.

Schipper, now a 17-year-old from Brisbane with a bright future of going to Athens for her first Olympics, yesterday recalled(回忆) her time with Gould five years ago.

“I was at a national youth camp on the Gold Coast and Shane had come along to talk to us and watch us train,” Schipper explained. “It seemed as if we had long been good friends. I don’t know why. We just started talking and it went from there.”

“She had a lot to share with all of us at that camp. She told us stories about what it was like at big meets like the Olympics and what it’s like to be on an Australian team. It was really interesting.”

Next time, things will be more serious. “I will still be swimming in the 50m butterfly at the nationals, so there is a chance that I could actually be competing against Shane Gould,” said Schipper, who burst onto the scene at last year’s national championships with second places in the 100m and 200m butterfly.

59. What is the passage mainly about?

A. Stories happening in swimming competitions.

B. Two women swimmers winning Olympic golds.

C. Lessons learned from international swimming championships.

D. Friendship and competition between two swimmers.

60. Gould and Schipper are going to ______.

A. talk about sport and life

B. go back to elite competition

C. set a qualifying time and win gold

D. take part in the same sports event

61. Gould won her three Olympic golds when she was .

A. 15 B. 17 C. 22 D. 30

62. The underlined word “it” in the fifth paragraph probably refers to____.

A. the Olympics B. the youth camp

C. the friendship D. the Australian team

63. What Schipper said showed that she______.

A. was no longer Gould’s friend

B. had learned a lot from Gould

C. was not interested in Gould’s stories

D. would not like to compete against Gould